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Wednesday, August 29, 2012

I've been thinking a lot lately about the subtle ways in which our ancestors' lives influence our own. There are many small things that trickle down through the generations, influencing our traditions, family activities and foods, often without us even realizing it. Our lifestyle, religion, and career choices, as well as our foods and recreational activities can all be influenced by those that lived generations before and similarly our choices will influence the generations that follow. Sometimes by evaluating our traditions, we can find clues about our heritage.

When I met and married my husband, it was interesting to see the differences in our food preferences. While he and I liked a lot of the same foods, there were foods that I liked and considered practically a staple that he had not eaten much, if at all. Although I grew up in the west, some of my family's favorites are actually more commonly found in other areas of the U.S. My family liked nothing better than a meal of fried chicken, cole slaw, and biscuits. While my mother-in-law was and is a good cook, I don't know that she has ever fried a chicken or fixed biscuits. My family loved soft, flakey biscuits and had them frequently with meals. Mom always fried up the chicken crisp and golden in a black cast iron skillet. Consequently, when my husband and I married, a cast iron skillet seemed like an essential item for our gift registry. My husband didn't quite see the need but went along with the idea anyway. I had always loved a wonderful corn pone pie (casserole) that my mom made. My sweet husband wanted to know exactly what was a corn pone anyway? How could he not know? We really did not have a meeting of the minds when it came to what constituted a "special breakfast" either. He had always been a waffles and syrup kind of guy. I had always loved ham, biscuits and gravy for breakfast more than any other breakfast. He could not imagine having biscuits and gravy for breakfast and I could not imagine why it seemed so strange to him. It was not until I began to do family history research that things began to fall into place and I began to understand. You see, both of my parents have family lines with southern roots. Between my parents, I have ancestors that lived in Tennessee, Arkansas, Alabama, Georgia, and the Carolinas. Looking back, it is evident that without even realizing it, our ancestry influenced the foods my family ate and loved.

Roderick Monroe Ganus

Some things are handed down so subtly that no one seems to know their origins, while other things have been passed down with a story . My Grandma's lemon pie came with a bit of a story although I didn't know it as a kid. But oh how I loved my Grandma Ganus's lemon pie. Her pie was the perfect balance of sweet and tart. I've been told that Grandma's lemon pie recipe actually came from my Grandpa's Aunt Carrie and I just happen to know that his Aunt Carrie held a special place in his heart so it makes that pie recipe extra special. Carrie Melinda Davis married Roderick Monroe Ganus on 27 January 1905 in Oklmulgee, Oklahoma. They lived in Oklahoma for their entire married life and raised their family there. I have very tender feelings for Roderick and Carrie because they were the ones that took in my Grandpa Heber Ganus when he was orphaned at the sweet young age of 8. Grandpa Heber's father William "Frank" Ganus died in 1906 and just three years later in 1909, his mother Sally Faucett Ganus died, leaving her three sons, Earnest, Orson and Heber all alone. Court records indicate that the oldest brother, Ernest, who was only 16 at the time, requested that his father's brother Uncle Roderick Ganus be appointed as Administrator of their mother's meager estate. In the court proceedings, Earnest appeared with his two younger brothers Orson and Heber. In my mind, I can see the three young boys in court feeling so lost and alone, mourning the loss of their parents and wondering who would care for them. The thought breaks my heart. In his life history, my Grandpa Heber indicated that Roderick took him in and that his Uncle Robert took in his twin brother, Orson . Grandpa didn't say where the oldest brother, Earnest went to live. The young twins, Orson and Heber lived in Oklahoma with their father's brothers for a year before going to Colorado to live with their mother's brothers to fulfil their mother's (Sally Faucett Ganus) death bed request. In his history, Grandpa said of Roderick and Carrie, "These people didn't have much money, but they were good providers and made a good living for their families." The reality was, times were hard for those Oklahoma Ganus families and so I know it was a huge sacrifice for them to have another mouth to feed. I feel such gratitude for Roderick and Carrie because they took in my grandpa when he so needed their loving care. It's always amazing to me that I can feel such love for people I've never met.

Carrie Melinda Davis Ganus
and Emmett

I can't help but think of the goodness of Roderick and Carrie when I fix Grandma's lemon pie. What foods do you eat that might have been influenced by your ancestry? How will your choices influence future generations?

Carrie's Lemon Pie Filling

2 Tbsp Corn Starch

1 1/4 c. warm water

Juice of 1 lemon

1 c. sugar

1 Tbsp butter

small amount of shredded rind.

3 eggs (save white for meringue)

Cook in double boiler until thick. Pour into baked pie shell. Top with meringue.

Friday, August 24, 2012

John Monroe Ganus and his boys
L to R top row: Robert, Roderick, Newton
bottom row: John Monroe, John T., Frank

At the Salt Lake Institute of Genealogy held in January 2012,
one of the instructors reminded our class of the value of checking online trees
to determine what research may have been done by other individuals. I admit that I was a little surprised because
most recently I have used that resource less and less. It is frustrating to discover so many online
trees riddled with error, without sources and, in many cases, simply “cut and
pasted” from someone else’s incorrectly done work. But, during that class, I realized that I
have essentially thrown the baby out with the bathwater, as the saying
goes.

Truthfully, Rootsweb lists and message boards,
Genforum, Ancestry’s message boards and
online trees had all been a great resource for me in the past, directing me to
individuals that often privately held information that solved some of my toughest
genealogy mysteries. I say “in the past”
because I realized that as I have progressed in knowledge, I have turned to
those sources less frequently. As I consider the scan of a family Bible
record shared by one such contact, the two scanned journals from the late
1800’s which mentioned my ancestor, pictures and treasured first person
accounts that I have received from contacts met through such sites, I realize
that I have lost touch with a very precious resource, essentially the living
descendants of siblings and associates of my ancestors. Along with the increased availability of
digitized online sources, there has been a steady decline in the once very
thriving community that existed on forums and lists and many theorize that the two
are related. But the truth is, digitized
material and sites that facilitate exchange do not have to exist mutually
exclusive of each other. None of us can
truly be successful researching in a bubble.
We need each other.

A good example of the value of resources obtained through
online forums and lists is a journal that was shared with me by a woman who I
met years ago on a Rootsweb list. This journal
was kept by John J. Pledger Murphy from 1886-1887 in Georgia. In addition to giving me an idea of what life
was like for many in the Cedartown, Georgia area in the late 1880’s, it also
provides a glimpse into my ancestor’s life.

Following are two excerpts from that journal:

Oct. Saturday 23, 1886John Ganus and I go a squirrel
hunting we kill one squirell after two hours hunt.Return to Johnnys and have squirrel, long leg
collard and sweet potatoes for dinner.Nute and Boby Ganus and John Bailey goes to town with cow and calf.They return and John Ganus goe with them to
Baileys a possum hunting.Catch one fine
fat possum.Frank and Rod Ganus
come.Frank and me sleep at John
Ganus.The bed fell down with us.Oct. Sunday 24, 1886At 9 a.m. Johney and the boys
come with the old big fat possum.We
scald him and scrape him and Mrs Ganus cooked it for dinner.I et one hind leg and some cabbage at ½ past
2:00

As I read this passage, I almost feel like I am right there
with them. I love thinking of Olivia (John Monroe Ganus’s
wife) cooking up squirrel, long leg collards and sweet potatoes for her family
and guests one night and possum and cabbage the next. I can imagine them enjoying their dinner
together and then sons Frank (William F.) and Rod (Roderick) joining them. I can just see the men all talking after
dinner and deciding to take off hunting
together with their Bailey relatives and then returning home together with “one fine fat possum” while the younger
cousins, Nute (Newton), Boby (Robert) and John Bailey (Olivia’s sister’s son) ,
go together to take their cow and calf to town.
It makes me laugh to imagine the
crash when the bed broke in the middle of the night with their guests in it. I love knowing that Olivia’s family and her
sister’s family were part of each other’s daily lives. In many ways this journal allows me to see the
Ganus family in a way nothing else could.

I’m glad to be reminded of the valuable resource that we can
be to each other as we share what we have. It also looks like it’s time I
returned to some of those online lists and forums to see what connections I can
make with the living.

Wednesday, August 22, 2012

Friday November 12, 1886
“We arose early & at my sujestion Franklin Ganus packed up all of his things preparatory to going to Colorado. Also we made a start on his Fathers packing. …. John Ganus & John Ganus [son John Thackason]returned from Cedar Town. I went home with Johny Ganus and stoped all night. Slept well.

Monday November 15, 1886
…. I went to John Ganuses & had a good talk with him and family. G.W. Driver [George W. Driver] loaned him $10.00 so that he could take his son Baby Ganus with him to Colorado. Their hearts were made glad and they rejoiced in having the priviledge of all going.

Tuesday, November 16, 1886
We et early breakfeast went to Bro. G.W.D. with Johny Ganus & did the hardest days work I almost ever did in my life packing up his household & kitchen furniture & got it to the depot by 5 p.m

Wednesday November 17, 1886
……I stayed with them until I seen the last of them at 8:30 am. [after having taken them to the train depot]

They were on their way! On Wednesday, November 17, 1886, John and Olivia Rainwater, along with their son William Franklin and his daughter “Ollie”, John and Olivia's son John Thackason, and his wife Mary Chisenhall along with their children, John W., and Minnie Delania , plus John and Olivia’s sons Roderick, Robert and Newton, all boarded the train headed for the San Luis Valley in Colorado. It’s hard to imagine the emotion that they must have felt as they contemplated the new life that lay ahead as well as the life that they were leaving behind. John Monroe was 60 years old. Would they be able to make a living? They were all farmers, but would they be able to adjust to the very short growing season there in Colorado? Did they know that winter temperatures often plunged to below zero? There were many things that would change with this move. On top of it all, John and Olivia had left siblings, aunts, uncles and cousins and would never again return to Georgia to see them. While we have no idea exactly what they knew or felt, we do know that they were willing to take that courageous step to begin a new life.

Photo of train is from the L.D. McClure collection 1890-1935, album III, 137, from Denver Public Library Digital Collections.

Monday, August 20, 2012

It was a surprise to learn a few years ago that the John
Monroe Ganus family had lived in Manassa, Colorado for almost 13 years. I knew that they had lived in Georgia and
that they had eventually moved to and settled in Oklahoma. I also knew that my grandfather, Heber, along
with his two brothers, Orson and Earnest,
had been sent to Colorado from Oklahoma to live with his mother’s brother when they were
orphaned . But my first clue that the
John M. Ganus family had lived in Manassa came when I was researching at a
local archive and had a chance meeting with a woman whose ancestors had also lived
in Manassa. This woman shared a map with me entitled “Pioneer
Map of the First Survey of the Town of Manassa in Conejos Co., Colorado , Showing the lot location of the
original owners and residents of this settlement.”

Below is a copy of a portion of the map of original lot owners for Manassa. Notice that John Monroe (shown as “Old Father Ganus”) and Olivia lived on lot # 40, as did their married son, John T. and his
wife Mary (Chisenhall) . Frank Ganus and wife Sally (Faucett) lived on lot# 10. John and Olivia’s younger sons, Roderick,
Newton and Robert were not married at
the time and would have been living with their parents, John or “Old Father Ganus” and Olivia .

Portion of map from in the back pocket of
"The Life and Ministry of John Morgan"
Arthur Richardson, Historical Research
Nicholas G. Morgan Sr.

As a follow up to my last post, I have corresponded with the woman who submitted the Old Manassa Cemetery information to the website, "Findagrave," and she indicated that she had a copy of the sexton records for that cemetery and that the following information was
recorded for the Ganus babies buried there:

Saturday, August 18, 2012

It seems only fitting that my first blog entry should follow
a trip to southern Colorado where several generations of my family lived at one
time and many relatives currently live. It
was a wonderful trip taken with my husband, my parents and my brothers to see
the sites from my parent’s childhood as well as the places that my ancestors
lived, worked and worshipped. While growing
up, we would travel every summer from our home in California to the beautiful
San Luis Valley, where we would play with cousins and do what country kids do
and we loved it. We played in Uncle Lou’s
barn, we gathered eggs, we milked cows, I drove a tractor for my cousins as
they baled hay, and I learned to outrun a cantankerous sheep. In the evenings, the families often gathered
to eat together and then the kids played kick the can and hide and seek and
other childhood games while the adults sat and visited. It was a wonderful place filled with loving
family and it was heaven to me.

Old Richfield Church

This trip was very different from those childhood
visits. While we did visit family, we mainly
visited sites from my parent’s childhood.
We were able to see the old abandoned church where my mom attended as a child. Both of the homes where my parents were born
still stand. We saw what is left of my
grandfather’s sawmill and the filling station where my other grandfather worked. For many of the
sites, only a portion of the building remained, serving as a place mark for
those ancestors’ lives, reminding us that they had really been there.

I loved the trip and I was reminded of why we as genealogists
need to step away from the books and microfilm readers occasionally and walk where
our ancestors walked and imagine what it was like when they were living. It’s there that we feel the very closest to
them and learn something that books can’t provide.

We visited the museum located in Sanford, Colorado and I was
so glad that we did. It is a small
museum, but packed with pictures, newspaper clippings, books and all kinds of
memorabilia. I saw pictures that I had
never seen before of grandfathers and others who had lived and died before I
was even born. The volunteer that was
there was so kind and helpful.

One of my favorite stops, and the last thing that I will
mention in this post, was our visit to the Old Manassa Cemetery. I love old cemeteries and this one is
definitely that. Most of the burials are
from the late 1800’s and early 1900’s and it is located outside the small town
of Manassa, Colorado whose population hovers around 1,000 people. We knew that we had family buried there and
were anxious to locate them. Inside the
gate is a lengthy list of unmarked graves located within the cemetery, but there
was no listing for the headstones that still exist, so we walked the cemetery. Among those listed on the plaque for unmarked
graves were three Ganus babies, one belonging to my great grandparents, Sarah
E. Faucett and William Franklin Ganus ,
and two belonging to my great grandfather’s brother, John Thackason Ganus and his wife Mary M.
Chisenhall,. Only Parley L. Ganus, son
of Frank and Sarah, had an actual headstone there. As I stood before his little grave, I couldn’t
help but think of his parents who had also stood on that very spot. I could imagine their grief as they buried
their little boy just a few weeks shy of his first birthday.

Parley's headstone

I wish that I knew more.
Why did Parley die? In fact, why
did all four of those Ganus babies die? They all died within four years of each
other, most during the cold winter months, which can be unbearably cold in the
valley. Did the deaths of those four
babies contribute to my great great grandparents, John and Olivia Ganus and
their five sons, Frank, John, Roderick, Robert and Newton and their families all moving
soon after to Oklahoma? I know that even if I find the answer to those
questions, I will still be left wanting to know more. It seems that no matter how many questions are
answered, there are always more and so I keep searching. In this blog, I plan to share the things that
I learn about my ancestors and about research and I know that in the process, I
will learn more about myself.

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About Me

I have been actively researching for over 25 years primarily in the areas of North Carolina, South Carolina, Georgia, Alabama, Oklahoma, Texas and even the southern portion of Colorado. When my nose isn’t in a quarterly or other genealogy book or publication, I am researching or attending a genealogy conference, institute, online class or webinar. I obtained a bachelor’s degree from BYU and I earned a certificate in genealogical research from the National Institute for Genealogical Studies. I'm a member of numerous genealogical societies including the National Genealogical Society, Georgia Genealogical Society, North Carolina Genealogical Society and Carroll County Georgia Genealogical Society.
Questions or comments? You can contact me at shelltag1 at gmail dot com.